


Poses

by Foresmutters_Archivist (Open_Doors)



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1977-08-25
Updated: 1977-08-25
Packaged: 2017-11-12 21:20:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/495766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Open_Doors/pseuds/Foresmutters_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By Leslie Fish and Joanne Agostino.</p><p>The sequel to "Shelter." Kirk, Spock, and McCoy return to the Enterprise and try to maintain the poses of normal life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poses

**Author's Note:**

> By Leslie Fish and Joanne Agostino, 1977 (originally published in *Obsc'zine #1* by T'Kuhtian Press, Lori Chapek-Carelton, editor).

Au clair de la lune, on ne peut pas voir  
Chercher feu et plume, pour la nuit est noir,  
Ça qu'on trouve en cherchant n'est pas révélé;  
Tout auprès sa porte, c'est prudemment caché.

\--Jean-Baptiste Lully, 1633-1687 CE

Consciousness approached as slowly as dawn on a misty world,  
bearing two vague impressions--one of pleasure and one of  
pain. The pain was a faint throbbing at the side of his  
head, rattling like a distant drum in time to his pulse.  
The pleasure was more immediate: a vastly comforting warm  
weight pressed beside and across him--unquestionably a  
friend. Drowsily Spock pulled his fuzzy awareness away from  
the pain and toward that comforting touch. It was good to  
lie here, thinking of nothing, doing nothing, only absorbing  
the quiet pleasure like a plant soaking its leaves in  
sunlight . . .

Somewhere, a noise. Buzzing, insistent, cutting through the  
gentle fog like an unwanted searchlight. Unwilling memory  
identified the sound: an emergency-communicator signal.  
More noises added to it: a shuffling, a scuffling, a few  
indistinct oaths in a Human voice. He recognized the voice  
as McCoy's, approximately three meters away.

"Hello, Scotty? . . . Right . . . Yes, we're okay . . . No,  
give us a few minutes to wake up and gather our gear, and  
tell Sickbay to have a stretcher team standing by in the  
transporter room . . . Oh no, nothing like that, but  
Spock's got a slight head injury and I don't want him  
exerting himself. The rest of us have scratches and bruises  
and . . . uh, our clothes are pretty torn up, but that's  
about it . . .. Sure, I'll call back when we're ready.  
McCoy out."

Spock lay quiet, fully awake now, analyzing all that. His  
memory was beginning to clear. Yes--the flight, the  
malfunctioning shuttlecraft, the crash-landing . . . Beyond  
that were only dark and confused impressions. Something in  
their nature made him shiver away, knowing he wouldn't want  
to look any closer. *Crash? Head injury? Unconsciousness  
certainly, but what else? Odd sensations . . .* He stirred  
slightly, trying to orient himself, and felt the satiny  
texture of emergency-pack blankets all around him—and the  
continuing pressure of a close, sleeping body. For the  
first time he begin to wonder about that. *Who? Why? What  
happened?* Cautiously, he opened his eyes.

At first, he saw nothing but red-shot darkness. His vision  
adjusted, focused, and he saw that he was in a low cave--  
some of whose rocks glowed red in the peculiar pattern of  
phaser heating. Against that backdrop moved McCoy, visible  
as little more than a silhouette, picking up scattered gear  
and grumbling quietly. Nothing really unexpected there.  
Slowly, holding his breath, Spock turned to look at that  
suspicious warm weight lying across him.

He saw Kirk's sleeping, tousled head pillowed on his  
shoulder.

*Jim?! What—How?* Something was definitely wrong here.  
*Why is he lying across me like this? Where is his shirt—  
and mine? Is he hurt?* Spock started to pull away from  
that loose embrace, but Kirk stirred and murmured softly in  
his sleep, and tightened his grip. Spock lay still,  
eyebrows climbing, and analyzed that distinctly odd action.  
All he could conclude was that something significant had  
happened in those murky hours between the crash and this  
waking. He tried to remember, but the throbbing pain in his  
head worsened, and he decided to postpone that line of  
research. *Perhaps other clues . . .* Cautiously, taking  
care not to disturb Kirk, he slipped his hands under the  
blankets and felt for signs of injury.

The first thing he discovered was that both of them were  
nearly naked. Bewildered, he ran his hand over Kirk's hip,  
trying to find cloth. The missing shirts and boots he could  
understand, but why were his uniform trousers pulled halfway  
down his thighs, and why were Kirk's torn away as far as he  
could feel? *Definitely torn,* he concluded as his fingers  
encountered the frayed end of a ripped belt. *I am the only  
person present with enough strength to tear belt leather . .  
.* Apprehension shivered up his spine, difficult to  
control. *I was semiconscious at best . . . Did I hurt  
him???* Seriously worried now, he slid his hand between  
their tight-pressed bellies and felt for damage. Almost at  
once, he found something alarming.

*Sticky . . . ?*

That couldn't be sweat; it must be blood. Wondering angrily  
how McCoy could have failed to notice such a symptom of  
damage, Spock flung caution aside and slid exploratory  
fingers over Kirk's abdomen, upper thighs, genitals—and  
barely had time to determine that there was no external  
injury. Kirk stretched, sighed and rolled hard against him,  
neatly trapping Spock's hand in his groin.

Spock held perfectly still, mind whirling, wondering what  
had caused this response and how he could get out of this  
horribly embarrassing position without waking the captain.  
Then Kirk turned his head slightly, whispered something  
unintelligible, and kissed Spock's shoulder. Spock shivered  
at the sensation, astonished at its effect and his own  
sensitivity. But he had no time to analyze these reactions;  
another one was taking place. The organ held in his  
unwilling grip was engorging, stiffening, swelling to fill  
his hand and stretch beyond it. For a moment, all Spock  
could think of was how large that thing must be when it was  
fully extended—and then a faint click of recognition told  
him that, somehow, he already knew. *But how do I know,* he  
wondered frantically. *And why is he reacting like this?  
In his sleep . . . Surely he's dreaming . . . and of  
someone else. Dreams are uncontrollable --*

Right there another memory fell into place. Spock shut his  
eyes tightly and considered another factor. *Is he the only  
one who dreamed? Last night . . . Did I? . . . ?* He  
could remember that recurrent dream, that shameful  
nightmare, all too well; he had dreamed it repeatedly for  
the last month, and knew its plot from beginning to end. It  
was the ending that had always puzzled him: that strange  
impression of melting in Kirk's arms, of blending into his  
accepting mind and body, and of some nameless sweet-fierce  
consummation that he couldn't define. What was it, and what  
did it mean? Searching past the pounding pain in his skull,  
Spock became quietly and horribly certain that he had  
experienced that dream again, just that night, when he  
hadn't been decently alone. *Was Jim awake then? Did he  
hear, see . . . ? Please, no! But if . . . Very well,  
assume the worst. Pessimistic synthesis: if he did overhear  
. . .* But there was a stark contradiction between that  
assumption and the recognizable facts. Embarrassment,  
polite withdrawal, teasing, even scolding he could expect,  
but not this insistent . . . cuddling. Certainly not this  
eager arousal! *What happened? What really happened? I  
MUST remember!* His head ached abominably.

McCoy approached, deliberately quiet, took Kirk by the  
shoulder and shook him gently. "Jim," he whispered, "Hey,  
Jim, wake up. The ship's here, and we've got to get ready  
to go."

Kirk flinched and sighed, and slowly raised his head. "So  
soon?" he mumbled.

"Soon? Hah! You've been asleep for nearly eight hours.  
Come on, Sleeping Beauty; sweet dreams have to end some  
time."

"Uh . . . yeah."

Kirk moved slightly under the blankets, obviously becoming  
aware of his physical situation. Spock kept his eyes shut,  
stayed immobile, barely breathed, listening to McCoy move  
away. It was hard to keep from shivering as he felt Kirk  
slowly remove the arm draped across his chest and feel his  
way cautiously downward under the blankets. *No time, no  
chance to withdraw . . .* Spock squirmed inwardly as Kirk's  
exploring hand slid down his belly, encountered the Vulcan's  
trapped arm, and finally found that irrefutably guilty hand.  
In that instant Spock thought of a dozen impossible wishes:  
that he were on the other side of the galaxy, that he'd  
never seen or heard of the Enterprise, that he'd never left  
Vulcan, that he'd never been born . . . And then he  
realized that Kirk was also touching his own undeniably  
swollen organ. *Be calm,* Spock told himself. *Control.  
Panic serves no function. Lie still. Be calm. . . . * He  
distinctly heard Kirk give a quiet, regretful sigh as he  
pulled himself away. *Regretful?* The gentle pat on his  
supposedly sleeping arm confirmed it. *What? He--Why?  
Can't analyze--control! Control . . .* He gritted his  
teeth and busied his mind with multiplication tables. His  
ears continued to take in data.

"My pants! Good God, Bones, I can't beam up like this!"

"Wrap up in one of the blankets. He'll never miss it."

Rustling sounds as Kirk leaned over and tugged gently on the  
blankets. Spock opened one eye less than a millimeter and  
took a quick look. For an instant he saw Kirk in all his  
nude glory, and confirmed that there was no blood on him.  
*But sticky . . .*

Spock closed his eye again and concentrated grimly. *I must  
know!* Ignoring the nagging pain in his head, he sank into  
the memory-access stage of light meditation and threaded his  
way back through those confused impressions. *The dream . .  
. and he was here . . . and I said . . . Oh, I said it all!*  
Shame flooded him, burning like cold acid, but he made  
himself go on, remembering every last horribly passionate  
damning word. *I said that! And he . . . Oh, Jim . . . *  
That incredible acceptance, forgiveness, willing descent  
into the abyss of ravening blind emotion--how could he have  
done it? *"How can thee be so fearless?" I said those  
words. And then . . . * Then a mental alarm-bell, a  
definite sense of warning, apprehension, an understanding  
that if he went any further he would encounter something  
terrible, that a trap would close irrevocably on him. He  
paused, wondering what he could have done that was worse  
than that appalling loss of control, that besotted  
confession of feeling, that gross violation of everything  
Vulcan. Not murder nor injury, but what did that leave?

As if in answer, a pulse twitched in his groin. *Odd . . .  
am I injured there?* He turned his emptied hand and felt  
himself. What he found was definitely abnormal: the  
protective petals were relaxed and half opened, the two  
anchoring tendrils were partially extended, the modulated  
shaft was almost fully emerged—and the whole apparatus was  
hypersensitive and . . . sticky. For a moment he was too  
stunned to analyze this. His fingers continued to brush  
automatically over the undeniable evidence, sending soft  
pulses of sensation up to his paralyzed brain, gently  
pushing open the doors to the last horrifying memory.

*Dream's end: melting and blending. Blood-fires quick and  
urgent. Desires definite, demanding. Touch. Pressure.  
Hard-fleshed body surging under me -- His voice crying --  
Mindless-seething-explosion--No! No!! No!!! I didn't!  
Please, no! Tell me I didn't! No!*

His hand clutched tight on the damning proof until the  
organs hurt almost as much as his head, but neither pain  
could match the howling agony of shame in his mind. His  
voice escaped in a groan of desolate anguish.

"Bones, what--"

"He's coming around. Give me some light."

Fierce light of an emergency torch stabbed closed eyes.  
Spock rolled his head back and forth, trying to escape it.  
Somewhere nearby a tricorder warbled. A familiar voice  
muttered, "Oh-oh, trouble." A hand squeezed his shoulder,  
dragging him up to full awareness of his surroundings.

"Spock, I have some painkiller. Do you want it?"

"Yes! Yes!" *Make this stop! Make it not be!*

The hypospray hissed against his shoulder. Blessed numb  
silence spread through his body and reached cool fingers  
into his mind. He sighed with relief and sank down in the  
soft cocoon of cloth, content for the moment just to be  
quiet. 

"Bones, what's the matter with him?" Kirk's worried voice  
sounded through the fog.

"Hmmm, head trouble," McCoy answered. "We'd better go home  
now."

"Right," Kirk agreed, clicking switches on the communicator.  
"Scotty, beam us up."

*I must not be seen like this . . .* Spock thought. As the  
transporter hum began, he deliberately blanked his mind and  
sank into the welcome oblivion of sleep.

* *  
*

"Bones--" Kirk stopped the doctor in the corridor outside  
Sickbay. "How is he doing?"

McCoy looked the captain up and down, wondering why Kirk had  
caught him out here, why he hadn't gone into Sickbay--not  
once in the last three days--to look in on Spock himself.  
"No change," he admitted. "Same as yesterday. He just lies  
there and stares at the ceiling. No, there's no physical  
problem; the wounds are healed and the concussion's long  
past. He's just working something out in his head. Give  
him some time and he'll probably pull out of it by himself."

"But how long will it take?" Kirk insisted. "I . . . need  
him back on the bridge . . ." For an instant he looked  
away.

"Uh-huh," said McCoy, watching him carefully. "I'd say  
another day or two. Don't push him." *But what about you?  
Something's wrong here . . . Admitted, I set up this  
conspiracy of silence, but I'll find a way around it if  
there's something you need to say . . .* "But what about  
you, Jim? You've been looking out of sorts ever since we  
were rescued. Is anything bothering you?" That was as good  
a beginning as he could think of offhand.

Kirk understood perfectly. He thought for a moment, then  
looked McCoy straight in the eye and answered, "Just one  
thing. Can you do anything about recurring dreams?"

"Oh," McCoy gulped, thinking over the implications of that.  
"Uh, not out here in the corridor. Let's go see what I've  
got in my office."

Kirk nodded agreement and followed him into Sickbay. A few  
minutes later they were settled over two small glasses and a  
bottle on McCoy's desk, behind a discreetly locked door.  
McCoy sampled his drink and chose his words with infinite  
care. "This recurring dream . . . Is it a nightmare?"

"No," Kirk admitted quietly, studying his glass.

"Is it something you want?"

"I don't know." Kirk took a deep breath and let it our  
slowly. "I . . . enjoy it, but by all rights I shouldn't.  
It--it just isn't me!"

"Jim, I could give you a three-hour lecture about repressed  
desires, forbidden wishes, the usual Human reactions to  
things we don't want to want . . ."

"I'm not even sure that I don't want to . . . Damn!" Kirk  
set down his glass and distractedly rubbed his forehead.  
"It's just so--so completely alien, out of character, so far  
out of line with what I am."

"With what you want to be," McCoy corrected.

"Don't know about that, either." Kirk reached for his drink  
and gulped it down fast. "Goddammit, Bones, I'm lost!"

"Okay," said McCoy, leaning back. "It sounds to me like  
we've got a self-image problem here. That means one of two  
things: either your self-image is inaccurate, or else this  
. . . thing you want . . . well, you could be loading it  
down with a lot of meanings that it doesn't really have."

Kirk was silent for several minutes, thinking that over.  
When he spoke again his voice was very quiet. "All right,  
I've never had any experience with this, and I really don't  
know what it means. I suppose I've always thought it meant  
. . . weakness, childishness maybe, a failure of--of . . ."  
He stopped for a minute, then squared his shoulders and  
plunged ahead. "Let's just say this is making me worry  
about my manhood, okay? If I want this, then I'm . . .  
Well, what am I?" He rubbed one hand across his jaw,  
brushing off sweat. "Answer that for me, Doctor."

"Where do you want to start?" McCoy asked calmly. "One  
standard-issue Human male, in good physical condition, all  
parts accounted for. If you want confirmation on that, drop  
your trousers and look." *Careful . . .* He took a  
leisurely swallow of his drink. "As for the psychological  
attributes, well, there are only two that matter. To quote  
the ancient Dr. Freud, can you love and work?"

Kirk frowned thoughtfully, but didn't answer.

"How are you doing on the job?" McCoy prodded. "Noticed any  
trouble lately in coping with your work? Any  
indecisiveness? Failure of nerve? Loss of respect from the  
crew? Anything serious like that?"

"No," Kirk admitted, relaxing a little. "I think I've been  
. . . maybe a little bit snappish, short-tempered, these  
last few days. That's about it. Then again, the work's been  
pretty routine -- mapping and measuring in a pretty empty  
sector of space -- the sort of thing anybody but a complete  
incompetent could cope with, so that doesn't prove  
anything."

"It proves that you're not a complete incompetent," McCoy  
chuckled. "Come on, Jim; if you'd really started to slip,  
you know the senior officers would tell you -- if not me --  
and damn fast. I've heard no complaints. Have you?"

"Uh . . . No."

"Then there you are. If you want a psychotricorder reading  
I'll do it, but from what I've observed I really don't think  
you need it. Your work's good, Jim. As for the other . .  
." He shrugged elaborately. "Well, I haven't been in a  
position to observe your love life."

Kirk fidgeted and looked away.

"Waal, lessee . . ." McCoy broadened his drawl a fraction.  
"Do you still ogle the pretty crewwomen in the corridors?"

Kirk grinned a little, and nodded.

"Getting enough?" McCoy smiled -- not too lecherously.

"Oh, yes," Kirk admitted, looking a bit more relieved. "No  
problem there."

"All right then; has anything really changed?"

"Maybe . . ." Kirk almost whispered. "The dreams . . .  
They suggest a . . . change."

"What's that?"

"I've never liked being a . . . victim."

"True," McCoy agreed. If he'd had any doubts about the  
content of the undescribed dreams, they were gone now.  
"There's only one advantage in being a victim, Jim."

"Advantage?!" Kirk looked shocked. "What advantage?"

"No guilt. You can't be blamed for what you can't help, so  
you can let yourself lean back and enjoy it. That's the  
motivation for most rape fantasies . . ." *Oops! That may  
have been too much.*

"Touché." Kirk winced.

"All right, so the, er, victimization is just a  
smokescreen," McCoy hurried on. "It's the thing that . . .  
your victimizer is doing that's bothering you. That and  
your reactions to it. Right?"

"Right," Kirk agreed wearily. "I'm still stuck with those.  
They may not be wrong, but . . . they're not . . . something  
I can do."

"Why not?"

"I'm the captain," he said, as if that explained everything.

"Yes, that does explain everything, doesn't it?" McCoy eyed  
him keenly. "You have this picture tacked up on a wall in  
your mind: 'Ideal Starship Captain,' painted in super-glo  
colors, larger than life and twice as demanding. It's  
unreal and impossible, but you still keep trying to be that,  
and it's making you miserable."

"It's also made me a pretty good captain!" Kirk retorted.

"Yes, just as Spock's personal icon of an 'Ideal Vulcan' has  
made him a pretty damn good first officer. But there is a  
point where ideals get too far out of reach, too unrealistic  
\-- in your case, too inhuman."

"Inhuman? Oh come on, Bones, you know I've got a pretty  
long list of Human failings--"

"Yeah, and too damn many of 'em are phony!"

"Huh?" Kirk sat boggling at the doctor for several seconds  
before he could think of a comeback for that. "Jeezus, it's  
bad enough to tell me my virtues are phony, but my vices?  
What the hell?"

"Even your 'failings' are conventional parts of the image,"  
McCoy continued, refilling Kirk's glass on the good guess  
that he'd need it. "On duty you sometimes slip into being  
hot-tempered, stubborn and proud. Off duty--hah! Your  
exploits on shore leave are Starfleet legends! Jim the  
Galactic Hero can out-drink, out-fuck and out-fight any man  
in the bar--and more than once you've wound up in the local  
brig with a clanging hangover and a grin on your face, and  
your senior officers have been properly awed when they  
bailed you out."

"That isn't sinning enough for you?" Kirk laughed.

"It's pure cliché, Jim. Part of the pose. Starship  
captains are *supposed* to be Masters of Fornication and  
Death, remember?"

"So what do you want?" Kirk grumbled. "Should I take to  
shooting orphans and widows instead? Or mugging squirrels  
in the parks?"

McCoy leaned forward, looked Kirk over, and decided that the  
timing was right. "You might try, just once, doing what you  
really want--not what your personal Hero-pose says you  
*should* want. Those deep, hidden vices aren't really  
vices, Jim. The only thing wrong with them is that they  
don't fit in with your eternally tough, cool, belligerent,  
proud Starship Captain image."

"What are you talking about?" Kirk hedged, apprehension  
showing in his eyes.

"I'm talking about the two things you want most, but don't  
dare let yourself have: passion and tenderness."

Kirk grunted as if he'd been punched in the gut. He opened  
his mouth, shut it again, and reached for the glass. After  
he'd emptied that, he took a few deep breaths and finally  
managed to say something.

"That hurt, Bones."

"I know," said McCoy, gently squeezing his shoulder.  
"That's where you're vulnerable."

Kirk gripped the glass until McCoy worried that he might  
break it. "So what am I going to do?" he asked miserably.  
"All right, I need to love somebody--just plain fucking  
isn't enough, and never was--but who is there? Outside the  
ship--that's hopeless. You've seen what happens to  
captains' wives, not to mention kids; I'd see them once  
every six months, if I were lucky. Not enough, not for me  
or them. On the ship? You know the problems: jealousy,  
dissension, not to mention the fun and games of risking  
someone I love on dangerous assignments--oh, there's good  
reason for that old Starfleet rule about non-fraternization!  
But what does that leave? Whom can I have to love?"

"It would have to be someone on the ship," McCoy countered,  
"someone you're used to working with, someone who could be  
discreet and totally unsuspected, someone who wouldn't  
create any jealousy or dissension or complications on duty.  
That narrows it down considerably, doesn't it? *And I'd  
better stop right here. One step more and I'll blow my  
cover story sky high.*

"Oh god," Kirk whispered, grinding his hands against his  
eyes. "I'm scared, Bones. The few times I've dared to love  
someone before, I've gotten scorched. This . . . this is  
something I've never tried before, never dreamed--" The  
word stuck in his throat.

"Dream about it now, Jim," McCoy suggested, guessing that  
this was a good place to stop. "And while you're at it, get  
a decent night's sleep."

"I'll try," Kirk answered, showing a hint of his usual grin.

* * * *

Whether or not Kirk would have dropped in to see how Spock  
was doing was something McCoy never had a chance to find  
out. When the doctor showed up in Sickbay next morning he  
found Spock on his feet, wearing his most expressionless  
mask, insisting that he felt fine and should be sent back on  
duty. The diagnostic panel read all-normal, and McCoy could  
find no excuse not to let the Vulcan go.

Spock left Sickbay with less than a minute to spare before  
the first watch began, and McCoy had no idea that he had  
meant, literally, to return to duty *immediately.* The  
result was that Kirk had absolutely no warning when the  
turbo lift doors opened and Spock walked out onto the  
bridge. Kirk looked, flinched, did a classic double take,  
turned pale, turned pink, set his eyes firmly on the view  
screen and acted jittery.

Spock said nothing, but went to his board and sat down to  
review the current settings. A keen observer might have  
said that his shoulders were slightly more hunched than  
usual, but that was all.

Kirk stared fixedly at the screen, drummed his fingers on  
the chair arm, and sweated. He was acutely aware of how  
close to him Spock was. He could actually feel, like a  
current in the air, that tall lean presence at his side. He  
could remember without any effort the intriguing heat of  
those long hands, the harsh-spicy smell of his skin, the  
remarkable softness of his hair, the supple hardness of his  
body and the incredible strength of his arms. It was as if  
he had never before stopped to think about the fact that the  
Vulcan did indeed have a body, walked around in solid flesh  
like everyone else, somewhere deep inside needed to be  
touched and held and loved like everyone else . . .  
*Enough! Enough of this! Think about something else,  
dammit! Forget it!* Kirk stared at the uninteresting view  
on the screen as if it were the most important sight in the  
universe, while sweat slicked his forehead and threatened to  
run into his eyes.

Spock, glancing covertly from his post, was aware that the  
captain was not behaving normally. He was too rigid, too  
nervous, too . . . fidgety. Obviously he was upset. Spock  
knew very well that it was his own presence that was  
responsible for the phenomenon; those nervous reactions  
observed when he had first walked in confirmed it. . . .  
*And he didn't visit me in Sickbay, as he usually does . .  
.* Spock sighed, almost aloud. *He remembers. He is aware  
of what I did to him. He will not forget, though he may  
excuse and eventually forgive . . . If the symptoms abate as  
the watch continues, there may be hope. Patience. I must  
wait.*

He turned his attention back to his board and checked the  
readings. All were normal. There was nothing of interest  
on the boards; this appeared to be a most empty and  
uninteresting section of space--no notable energy emissions,  
no unusual particle count or dust composition, not even any  
notable absences. There was nothing to absorb his attention  
for the next few hours, absolutely nothing. For the first  
time in many years, Spock found himself seriously troubled  
with boredom. He fixed settings, rechecked them, realized  
he was drumming his fingers on the console, stopped it,  
began to wish for a Klingon or two to break the monotony,  
caught himself at it, checked the dials, and realized he was  
fidgeting as much as the captain. *This cannot continue,*  
he thought. *Eventually something must happen, some work  
will be required, some activity will break this . . . this .  
. .* He couldn't think of a word that fit the situation.

*If only something would happen . . . some danger to the  
ship or some anomaly to investigate or some voyager in need  
of assistance . . .. He would need me then, need my work,  
my help. I could prove my usefulness . . .. He would  
trust me, rely on me, want me at his side again . . . and  
afterwards he would turn to me with that look, that  
gratitude and warmth in this eyes . . . big, expressive,  
hazel eyes . . .*

He peered surreptitiously at Kirk, and saw only the side of  
his head and one hand tapping quietly on the arm of the  
chair. Those hands . . . amazing how strong they were, how  
tightly they could grip, how cool and delightful against  
bare skin . . . those big arms, like thick cool bands,  
moving across one's back, pressing at the secret, tender  
place . . . the marvelous texture of that big, lush body . .  
. *What am I thinking?! Control this! I can control this.  
I am a Vulcan. The mind rules . . .* He concentrated on  
some basic exercises until he was certain of himself, then  
turned his attention firmly back to his board, determined  
not to allow such a horrendous lapse in control again.

The readings hadn't changed. There was nothing new here,  
nothing to hold the attention. He glanced at his  
chronometer and noticed to his dismay that less than an hour  
had passed. It had seemed much longer than that. He  
wondered if his time sense had been damaged, checked,  
decided that it hadn't, caught himself fidgeting again, and  
decided to review some mathematical progressions. It was  
surprisingly difficult to concentrate; all the usual noises  
of the bridge seemed extraordinarily loud. He could hear  
Kirk shuffling his feet, tapping his fingers, breathing  
slightly faster than normal--could almost feel the close  
envelope of body heat that surrounded him. He became  
sharply aware of the fact that Kirk was sitting less than  
3.5 meters away, and it would be very easy to get up and  
walk over to that chair, stand behind him as if studying the  
view screen, and casually rest a hand on his shoulder . . .  
*Control this! Control . . . . What's the matter with me?*

Kirk squirmed in the command chair, feeling sweat soak into  
the shirt between his shoulder blades. His senses seemed to  
have expanded; he could feel Spock sitting only ten feet  
away, watching, waiting, saying nothing, but acutely aware  
of him. It was as if an invisible electric current  
connected them, keeping them painfully conscious of each  
other. He couldn't keep the Vulcan out of his thoughts,  
couldn't ignore him or stop musing about him or concentrate  
fully on anything else. He tried desperately to look cool  
and calm and utterly normal, hoping to god that the rest of  
the crew didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, while a  
squadron of tickle-winged butterflies practiced evasive  
maneuvers in his stomach. *This is ridiculous!* he told  
himself. *I'm acting like a love-struck kid, not a starship  
captain . . .* He felt himself blush, and hoped frantically  
that nobody could see it. *Good god, I can't think, can't  
concentrate—how the hell am I going to run a ship this way?  
I can't work, can't do my job . . . Jeezus, all I can think  
of is him! I want . . . I want to grab him and haul his  
clothes off and throw him down and fuck him till I'm limp,  
right here on the deck! . . . Or do I want him to fuck me?  
The way it felt . . . Oh god . . . I want to wrap myself  
up in his arms and whisper sentimental idiocies into his  
elegant pointed ear . . . or do I want him to say such  
things to me? "Passion and tenderness" . . . Yes, I want  
them, I admit it. But I want them from him! From *him*!  
And I can't work for thinking about it . . . What am I going  
to do? Damn you, Spock! What have you done to me?!?*

Spock turned to sneak another glance at the captain, and  
caught him looking back. Kirk's expression startled him; it  
was a compound of bewilderment, misery, hurt, and  
unmistakable anger. Spock ducked back to his board, biting  
his lip in dismay. It had been a mistake to return to duty  
without warning. Perhaps he should have gone to speak to  
Kirk alone first, settled this private problem in private .  
. . but how could he have put it? What could he have said?  
*How does one apologize for rape?* Spock squeezed his eyes  
shut and quietly hammered his fist on the console. *How  
long will it take him to forgive? What must I do to earn  
it? What am I going to do?* He dragged his eyes open and  
scanned his screens one more time, hoping desperately for  
something to show itself and give him something worthwhile  
to do, something else to think about . . .

Wait, there was something wrong with the sensors. They were  
registering nothing--absolutely nothing--not even the  
microscopic debris common to this area. Spock sat up and  
studied the screens, achingly grateful for this strange  
phenomenon, whatever it was . . . *A "dead zone?" An  
energy-devouring life-form? A sneak attack by some hostile  
intelligence?* He turned reception up to maximum, and still  
the dials read zero. Not even negative--just zero. That  
was peculiar. *An instrument malfunction? Disappointing,  
but something . . .* He ran a quick routine check on his  
board. The oddity showed up at once, but it took him  
several seconds to believe it. The main power switch of the  
sensor bank was depressed. Spock blinked, stupefied, at the  
stark evidence. The sensors registered zero because, quite  
by accident and without noticing it, he had turned them off.

Very quietly, Spock lowered reception to normal and turned  
the sensors back on. He checked the dials, saw that the  
readings were happily unchanged, and then quietly dropped  
his face to his hands. *I'm a fool,* he thought. *I am a  
dangerously clumsy, childishly distracted, unreliable,  
emotional, unstable idiot. I could have endangered the  
ship. My efficiency is going to pieces. I cannot work!  
He'll never forgive me now!* Again he felt that warm,  
ominous presence just 3.5 meters away. He straightened up,  
almost horrified at the thought that Kirk might see him like  
this. *Hold on, hold on . . . 'Despair is illogical.' I  
must . . . keep my mind occupied. Find something of value  
to do. Real work, not make-work. Something mind-absorbing  
. . . Yes.*

"Captain," Spock announced, taking care to keep his voice  
toneless. "In view of the improbability of any emergency in  
the foreseeable immediate future, I request permission to  
perform routine maintenance examination of the bridge  
computer." His voice sounded shockingly loud to his ears.  
*Did I say it too fast? Did I sound disturbed?*

Startled, Kirk looked up. Spock seemed as imperturbable as  
ever . . . or did he? Was he ever-so-slightly flushed? Did  
he look just the least bit fidgety? Was his voice just a  
fraction too loud? *No, I'm probably imagining things.*  
"Permission granted, Mr. Spock." He watched while Spock  
removed the access panel and dived under the console until  
only his boots showed, wondering if the Vulcan had moved  
just a little faster than usual. *Maybe he's trying to get  
away from me,* Kirk considered, hunching down in the chair.  
*Maybe I've embarrassed him, angered him, scared him . . .  
And why not? Wouldn't he be scared if he knew what I was  
thinking, what I wanted?* A passing yeoman gave him some  
reports to inspect and moved on. He looked at the papers  
without seeing them, grateful for some excuse to appear as  
preoccupied as he felt. He hoped that preoccupation was all  
that showed. *My god, I'm going to pieces! I can't sleep,  
can't work, can't think of anything but him . . . I'm not  
fit for command. I'm not a captain anymore . . . maybe not  
a man either . . . I don't know what I am! All I know is  
what I want . . . *

He glanced again at the black boots sticking out from under  
the Science station console. His imagination supplied an  
image of the rest of their wearer, and he felt himself  
melting inside. *Right this minute I want to crawl under  
there with him, peel his clothes off, take him right there  
in the wiring . . . Oh, shit!* The hot, itchy pressure was  
unmistakable. A quick glance down confirmed his worst  
guess. He watched in horrified fascination as the crotch of  
his uniform pants slowly began to bulge. *No! No! Not  
here!* He dropped the report into his lap to hide the  
evidence, and stared at the screen until his eyeballs felt  
gritty. *Down, damn you! Down!* he ordered the stubborn  
erection. *Please, One-eye, go back to sleep. I've got to  
hand this report back sometime!*

Spock wriggled into the crawlspace as far as he could go,  
painfully grateful to get away from the sight of those big  
hazel eyes. He gripped the cold metal of the support column  
and made himself relax. *Control. I can control this,* he  
reminded himself. He opened his eyes and looked up into the  
comforting precision of the wiring panels--so cool and exact  
and . . . logical. It was oddly reassuring to know that he  
was surrounded by these thick layers of machinery, this fine  
physical proof of the superiority of logic, this excellent  
expression of clear unemotional thinking. He might have  
been embarrassed over needing to rely on physical  
surroundings, but at the moment he was too busy being  
relieved that the method worked. He considered that the  
crawlspace would do surprisingly well as a meditation area;  
not only was the wiring good material to contemplate, but in  
here the sounds from the bridge were muffled, blended by the  
hum of machinery into an orchestrated background noise that  
was quite soothing. Considerably calmed, Spock peered into  
the depths of the memory cross-circuit plugs, checking for  
signs of wear or misalignment.

*A12c sufficient, A12d sufficient . . .* Yes, this was  
better; the straightforward mechanical routine was keeping  
his mind clear. *A12 series sufficient. A13a now . . .  
slight misalignment . . . adjusted.* He pushed the plug  
smoothly into place with a definite sense of satisfaction.  
*Interesting terminology: "male" and "female" plugs . . . If  
plugs could feel, would they enjoy their conjunction?  
Control! A13b sufficient . . . A13c sufficient . . .* He  
vaguely noticed that his thoughts were slipping into cadence  
with the steady sounds of the bridge machinery, sounds that  
seemed to be composed of living voices. With a little  
imagination, one could almost catch the words. *A13d  
sufficient,* he mentally sang along with the mechanical  
chorus, *A13e sufficient . . . circuitry faultless . . .  
faultless . . . "Thou are all beautiful, my love; I find no  
fault in you" . . . safety cutoff in place . . .* That one  
was difficult to mistake; the wiring resembled a narrow red  
ribbon. *"Thy lips are like scarlet ribbons" . . .  
secondary support column unchanged, straight, strong . . .  
"Thy neck is straight and strong, like the battlemented  
tower that David built" . . . display-light circuitry,  
condition fair . . . "My beloved has a fair brow and ruddy  
cheeks . . . his belly is like polished ivory . . . his  
mouth is very tender and wholly desirable" . . . What am I  
doing?! Stop it! Control!*

He shut his eyes tight and concentrated on making those  
bridge sounds go back to being quiet, normal bridge sounds.  
To his dismay, it didn't work. In fact, it got worse.  
Somewhere in his mind a door was jammed open, and illicit  
thoughts kept sneaking out of it. Impressions of sweetly  
burning and rippling flesh flickered like veils across his  
clean, safe visions of mental-control exercise diagrams.  
The chorus of machinery noises sang boldly the words and  
rhythms of indecent Human poetry. *"Let his mouth shower  
kisses on me!"* whispered the sensor scans. *"Thy cheeks  
are like a dove's breast feathers, and thy neck like a  
shining gorget,"* hummed the navigation control. *"His left  
hand supports my head, and his right caresses me . . ."*  
trilled the computer. *Control! Control!! Control!!!*  
Spock yelled at himself. *I am a Vulcan! I am a Vulcan! I  
am . . . not a very good Vulcan . . .*

Spock lay on his back on the crawlspace deck, pressed his  
hands to his eyes, and wondered if he were going mad.  
*Hallucinations . . . Aroused out of season . . .  
Neurological damage? No, McCoy would have noticed.  
Psychological disruption, then. The dreams . . .* He  
shuddered. *Not stopped: sharpened. Can't control them.  
Invading working hours now! Can't trust myself! I can't  
work, can't think, might even . . .* Images flared, forcing  
him to remember that terrible night after the crash landing  
when the dream had come true. The fog of semi consciousness  
had blown away from it, and he recalled every excruciating  
detail: the strange half-waking in the red-lit darkness to  
find Kirk lying beside him, that helpless passionate  
confession of undeniable and frightfully Human feeling, and  
then the incredible--instead of withdrawal or fear or  
embarrassment, acceptance--complete acceptance, protection,  
comfort and understanding and . . . love. Just remembering  
it turned him soft and bubbly inside. *He gave me that, and  
in return I . . .* He couldn't bear to form the inescapable  
word. All he could think of were those horrifying tactile  
images; the warmth of his blood turning to insistent heat,  
his grip tightening to entrap the helpless man, Kirk  
struggling in panic and then giving up and lying still . .  
The rest was all bright—seething chaos, mind-consuming  
ecstasy in fierce and heavy pulses, the warm body pinned and  
writhing under him-- *No! Please, no!* He couldn't stand  
to look any further. Plain terror gave him the strength to  
shut that mental door and--at least for the moment--keep it  
shut. The memory of that last, drowned, delirious cry  
battered him as he scrambled back to here and now. He  
pressed a fist to his mouth and choked back a whimper of  
pain. *Conclusion inescapable. I went mad and raped him.*

Abstractedly he reached for the support column and wrapped  
his hands around it, as if trying to draw the machine's calm  
and unfeeling strength into himself. He wished he had died  
as a child, before he had ever left Vulcan, before his deep-  
buried fault had had time to grow so vast, so dangerous, so  
obsessive, so monstrously un-Vulcan. He knew now that the  
one instance of satisfaction hadn't stopped the terrible  
hunger, only sharpened it, now that he knew how that  
satisfaction truly felt . . .. He turned his head this way  
and that, but the cold facts still stared him in the face.  
*This madness has made me useless, if not dangerous. I have  
betrayed myself and everything Vulcan in me. I want more of  
it . . . I still want to wrap myself in his body and join  
and feel-- I want to do it again! I WILL do it again if I  
stay near him! I must get away!*

He beat his hand blindly on the support column. One thumb  
brushed an operating contact and a spark jumped. He jerked  
his hands away with an uncontrolled yelp of pain and  
surprise.

On the bridge, Kirk heard the sharp cry and jumped as if  
he'd been stung. "Spock! What's wrong?" he shouted. There  
was no reply but a soft muttering sound. From a human that  
might have been swearing; from a Vulcan there was no  
guessing what it meant. Imagining a thousand disasters,  
Kirk jumped out of the chair--sending the report pages  
flying--grabbed Spock's ankles and bodily dragged him out  
from under the console.

Spock found himself lying on his back on the deck, wringing  
his sore hand, and looking up into the one face in the  
galaxy that he didn't want to see. For a moment he couldn't  
think at all. Kirk stared down at the Vulcan, shocked by  
his appearance. Spock's face was distracted, almost blank,  
and his right arm twitched in some sort of spasm. Worried  
sick, Kirk crouched beside him and gently lifted Spock to a  
sitting position. He couldn't keep from trembling at the  
feel of that soft-furred head against his shoulder. *Oh  
please,* he begged silently, *please be all right . . .*  
"Spock, what happened? How badly are you hurt?"

"I . . . I . . ." *Control!!!* He managed to pull his face  
into a decently inexpressive mask and get his voice somewhat  
contained. "I . . . appear to have . . . burned my thumb."

Relieved laughter crackled all around him. The Captain took  
his hand and inspected the damage. Spock was hard put not  
to shiver at the touch.

"Nothing serious," Kirk announced, holding that warm hand an  
instant longer than necessary. "Might turn into a nasty  
blister, though. Why don't you take it down to Sickbay and  
let Bones fuss over it?"

"Agreed," Spock answered, hoping he didn't sound too eager.  
*Escape!* He scrambled to his feet and marched to the turbo  
lift as fast as he could without attracting any more  
attention, feeling Kirk's eyes boring into his back every  
step of the way. As the doors closed behind him he almost  
sagged with relief--and then realized that he didn't dare go  
to Sickbay. McCoy was dangerously perceptive, not to  
mention curious, and he would notice that something was  
wrong; he would needle and guess, and with that illogically  
accurate "medical intuition" of his, there was a 78.3%  
probability that he would hit on the truth. Spock didn't  
care to speculate on the consequences of such a discovery.  
He had been improbably fortunate so far, in that McCoy had  
somehow slept through that whole shameful incident in the  
cave . . . Spock quietly ordered the turbo lift down to Deck  
5, and practically skulked all the way to his cabin. 

* * * *

Kirk sighed as the turbo lift doors shut, and turned his  
face back to the view screen. A yeoman picked up the  
dropped reports and handed them to him; he signed them  
almost without seeing them, and the yeoman obediently took  
them away. Someone else closed up the open access panel  
under Spock's console; Kirk didn't notice who it was. *Be  
cool,* he told himself. *Be calm. Look normal. You're  
still the captain . . .* His resolution did nothing for his  
mood, which was approximately that of a pole-axed steer. He  
couldn't believe how he'd felt for those few seconds,  
holding Spock in his arms, when he'd thought the Vulcan was  
seriously injured. Just then, nothing else in the whole  
galaxy had mattered. *That's . . . love . . .* His  
thoughts came slowly. *I love him. That's the truth, and  
I'm stuck with it. I love him, with all that love includes  
and implies. I love him, and I've got to do something about  
it . . . but what?* He stared glumly at the screen and  
tried to think of possible actions. Try ignoring Spock?  
Impossible; this shift had proved that. Forget the whole  
thing? Equally impossible, and dangerous to try. Find a  
nice willing crewwoman and fuck to exhaustion? He'd tried  
that for the last two nights, and it obviously hadn't  
worked. Resign? Transfer off? Run away? He couldn't bear  
the thought. Go to McCoy and ask for treatment? He already  
knew what Bones would say: "There ain't no cure for love,  
Jim--except more of the same."

No, the only solution was to go to Spock and explain,  
confess, somehow make him understand the problem. Kirk had  
no idea how to do that. He couldn't just walk in and say:  
"Spock, I'm madly in love with you, and I've got to do  
something about it. Let's go to bed." *Hell, that would  
scare him out of a year's growth! He'd avoid me like the  
plague, put in for a transfer, hide in tool closets when he  
saw me coming, or duck behind a computer . . .*

Sudden recognition made his hair stand up, filled his mind  
with the image of Spock ducking under the console, hiding  
himself in computer guts, rattled enough to burn his thumb  
in the wiring. *He knows! Oh, god, he knows! He remembers  
that night, he knows what I'm feeling, what I want, and he's  
afraid of me!* Kirk resisted the urge to beat his fist on  
his forehead, and wondered why he hadn't seen it before. Of  
course Spock had acted edgy in his presence, and of course  
he'd hidden in Sickbay for days, and of course he hadn't  
sent any message or wanted to communicate or dared to see  
him in private--of course! Of course!

*I've frightened him with my feelings, with my . . . my  
seductiveness . . . He said it himself, that night: "Thee  
has seduced me into feeling." Oh, Spock . . . Now what am I  
going to do? I can't lose him! I can't!*

Try as he might, he could think of no alternative but going  
straight to Spock and talking it over--and the sooner the  
better, before any more damage was done, before either of  
them became so distracted that they could never work again.  
Yes, soon. *As soon as this shift's over. Never mind that  
I'm scared,* he threw a silent challenge to his gut-level  
butterflies and attendant host of shadowy self-doubts. *The  
important thing is that he's scared, and I can't let that go  
on. Whatever it costs me, I'll tell him. I'll explain how  
I feel, and that I can't stop. We'll talk it over, find  
some way to deal with this. Together we can work it out.  
Together . . . Oh Love, I think we could face anything  
together! Even love itself.*

That decided, he leaned back in the chair and set himself to  
concentrating on his job. It was much easier now that he  
was committed to a course of action and knew what he was  
going to do.

* * * *

It took only five minutes to clean and dress his blistered  
thumb, and after that Spock was at a loss over what to do  
next. He certainly couldn't go back to the bridge, not  
while Kirk was there. He toyed with various excuses for  
getting out of the rest of his shift, selected a likely one,  
relayed it to the personnel officer, and sat back to think.  
It was easier in here, alone and surrounded by Vulcan  
trappings, to detach himself, withdraw, study himself as if  
he were a stranger observed from a distance, and put the  
facts neatly in order.

*Fact: Subject has lost control and is unable to regain it.*

*Fact: While in this state, subject has committed one  
serious offense, and shows definite tendency to repeat  
same.*

*Fact: Victim of crime displays definite disturbance and  
signs of animosity in subject's presence, despite unusual  
leniency in not reporting the offense . . . probably out of  
remembered friendship . . .*

That hurt. Spock closed his eyes and groaned softly over  
his loss. He was certain now that this silent mercy was  
absolutely the last he would ever have of Kirk's friendship-  
-which was the one thing he had treasured as much as his  
Vulcan heritage. In breaching the one, he had lost the  
other. Perhaps someday, with effort and retraining and  
treatment, he might correct that basic flaw and become an  
acceptable Vulcan again--but there was no hope of regaining  
the other thing, ever. *He'll never trust me again.* No  
one could, no one in all the galaxy, not after such a  
horrifying betrayal as that. *Jim, I'm sorry!* Not, not  
even a Human would accept something as pointless as an  
apology for such a crime. *Lost . . . But let it go.*

He sat for a long time staring sightlessly into the flames  
of the firepot, repeating "Regret serves no useful function"  
over and over, until the pain subsided to a dull and  
manageable ache. There was nothing left to do now but leave  
this place and this dangerous situation, and the sooner he  
could depart the better it would be. He got up and went to  
his desk terminal, punched out the necessary code and waited  
for the printout form to arrive, then took it and read it  
quickly and filled in the blanks.

* * * *

At shift's end Kirk came off the bridge and hurried down to  
his cabin, hoping to high heaven that there wasn't much  
paperwork waiting for his so that he could finish it off  
quickly and go talk to Spock. At first he was relieved to  
see only the one paper. Then he read it, and felt his heart  
drop to his boots. *I waited too long,* he thought numbly,  
rereading the stark words. *I should have talked to him  
earlier, gone to see him in Sickbay . . . If only I'd  
settled this with myself sooner, not been such a coward . .  
. * He punched the intercom open and sent the terse  
message: "Mr. Spock, report to my quarters immediately."

In a few minutes—or a tense, fidgeting eternity—the door  
opened and Spock came in. He moved like a marionette, and  
his face might have been carved from granite. *Trouble,*  
Kirk understood. *This is going to be rough. Frontal  
attack best.* He picked up the paper and held it out to the  
Vulcan. "Why?" he asked.

"Personal reasons." Clipped, cold, offering nothing.

"Sure." Kirk pushed a button on this desk that locked the  
door and turned on the discreet "do not disturb" signal.  
"Let's drop the polite poses, Spock; the situation's too  
serious for that. You want this transfer because of what  
happened . . . four days ago, don't you?"

"Partially," Spock admitted through stiff lips.

"Partially?" Kirk was caught off balance. *Afraid . . .  
But is he angry too? Does he blame me for . . . ?* "All  
right, Spock; what's the rest of it?"

Spock was silent for a few seconds, considering and  
rejecting the possibility of continued evasion, then  
struggling with the surprisingly difficult task of choosing  
the right words. "Captain, I appreciate the fact that you  
did not report my inexcusable behavior after the shuttle  
crash. However, assaulting a fellow officer is a serious  
offense, and--"

*Now! Tell him now!* "It . . . wasn't . . . assault," Kirk  
confessed through clenched teeth. 

Spock's eyebrows shot up to his bangs. "I beg your pardon?"

"It wasn't . . . " *Say it all, dammit!* "I . . . started  
out unwilling, but . . . after a while, I . . . " *Say it!*  
"I enjoyed it."

"Impossible . . ." Spock almost whispered, his mind  
whirling and thick with memories. *All that struggling,  
crying out-- But he believes-- How . . .? Human capacity  
for self-deceit, denial of unbearable reality--and his  
tendency to blame himself for everything that happens to his  
crew . . . especially his friends . . . I have forced him  
into a psychoneurotic reaction. Must get away before I  
drive him mad!*

"No, its true." Kirk got up and paced nervously to the  
screen and back. "I didn't expect that. It's not  
something I ever imagined myself doing, but it happened.  
Why do you think I've been keeping to myself these last few  
days? I've been thinking it over, trying to understand . .  
." He stopped in mid-stride and turned to look the Vulcan  
straight in the eyes. "Spock, this is hard for me to say,  
and I know it's hard for you to hear. I know you hate  
emotional scenes and entanglements, but--dammit!--we're  
stuck with this, and we've got to deal with it. I . . ."  
He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "I love  
you, and I can't pretend I don't. That . . . incident only  
brought it out in the open. I didn't think I could do that,  
but I can—and I have."

*Worse! Worse! Worse than I feared!* Spock clutched his  
hands bloodless behind his back. *Now he's altering his  
memory to fit . . .Must flee!* "I understand perfectly,  
Captain. That is precisely why I must leave."

"What?!?" Kirk flinched as if he'd been struck. "Leave?  
How can you—" He took a deep breath and started again.  
"Spock, I know you disapprove of emotions, consider them an  
obstacle to clear thinking, but surely . . . after all  
you've seen, surely you must know that at least a few  
emotions have some value. You can't think so little of love  
that you'd run away from it . . . and from me . . . *Or  
would you???* "You can't!"

"Captain." *Control! Control!* "Any emotion, allowed full  
expression, is dangerous. We have already seen ample proof  
of that. After . . ." *Control!* " . . . what I did to  
you . . ."

"I don't think you have any conception of what you did to  
me!" *No! No! Don't get angry!* "You . . . you broke  
something that you can't mend again, and neither can I."

Spock didn't say anything, but he turned pale.

"This is going to take some explaining . . ." Kirk turned  
away and resumed his pacing. *How did McCoy put it?*  
"Look, we all have ideals that we try to match, things we  
try to be, roles that we try to fill. For you, it's the  
image of an ideal Vulcan, and for me it's . . . 'Jim, the  
Galactic Hero!' It's a childhood picture of an ideal  
starship captain. I can't speak for you, of course, but for  
me . . . Well, I think I chose an unrealistic image: too  
proud, too self-sufficient, too unfeeling, too . . . too  
untouchable."

Unnoticed, Spock shut his eyes very tight. Then he caught  
himself and forced them open again.

"I tried to fit myself into that mold," Kirk went on.  
"Tried very hard. I can't tell you why—it's a long story—  
but fitting that image was the most important thing in the  
world for me. I . . . I think I would rather have died than  
fail. I had to be that! And--"

"Yes," Spock cut it, sure that he knew where this was going.  
"And I have broken it." *Tactless! I could have found  
milder words . . . *

"Right," Kirk whispered, leaning against the screen. "You  
broke it. And how you broke it! You made me see . . .  
something in myself that was . . . no part of the pattern.  
Not by easy steps, either. All at once. And it hurt . . ."  
*No, no, this isn't what I meant to say!* "Good god, do you  
realize that you made me the-- The Girl in a classic Human-  
male rape fantasy? I started off fighting it, and wound up  
enjoying it. Straight out of the book! How corny can you  
get?" He gave a poor imitation of a laugh.

Spock quietly bit the inside of his cheek, horribly certain  
that if he didn't have some physical pain to concentrate on,  
he would lose control completely and fall down right there  
on the deck.

"All right, you did that." Kirk's voice was serious again.  
"You made me see something I didn't want to see--but it's  
there, and it's me, and I can't pretend I didn't see it.  
Now I've got to deal with it, and I can't do that by myself.  
Ideals or no ideals, I . . . need to love somebody. And  
it's you."

"No." *Madness! Don't you know what I'll do to you? Only  
one way to prevent--Escape, quickly, before it grows--*  
"No. I must go away."

"Spock, you can't leave me to face this alone!"

"It-is-the-only-logical-possibility."

"I can't believe this." Kirk stumbled backward until he was  
leaning against the desk. "You--you really would-- Oh  
shit! Seduced and abandoned! First you make me The Girl in  
a clichéd rape fantasy, and now you're making me The Girl in  
a classic bad romance! I suppose I should be grateful that  
you didn't leave me pregnant, too!"

Spock couldn't have said anything just then if his life had  
depended on it. All he could think was that Kirk was going  
mad right in front of his eyes, and that he wasn't very far  
from it himself.

"My god, it's perfect!" Kirk pressed a distracted hand to  
his forehead. "Every corny line in the book, and I fell for  
it! Me! James T.-for-Tomcat Kirk! I fell into the oldest  
trick in the world . . . Oh, nobody could have done it but  
you, Spock! I let you do it, lay still and let you have  
what you wanted, even enjoyed it--all because you said you--  
you wanted me to love you, and I believed it!"

"I-Am-A-Vulcan." *And I am losing my mind! Hallucinations  
. . . his eyes . . . too bright to be real . . . *

"You're a Vulcan," Kirk repeated woodenly. "You're more  
than that. I'm seeing . . . two things . . . I never  
expected you to be."

"Two . . ." *A dangerous lunatic, but what else?*

"A coward and a liar," Kirk answered. His eyes were  
enormous, and definitely shining. "A coward because you're  
running away from what you've done, and a liar because you  
said you loved me--and you don't even know what the word  
means."

*No! No!* Spock wanted to shout at him. *I know very well  
what it is! It's madness, and we've both caught it, and  
it's going to make me do something horrible in another  
minute--* And then he saw that impossible brightness in  
Kirk's eyes gather up and brim over and fall onto his  
cheeks, clear and shining as fluid diamonds. *Tears.  
Tears?! Him?!?*

"If you could lie about that," Kirk continued, oblivious to  
the growing wetness on his face, "what else have you lied  
about? What else have you done to trick me?" He stared at  
Spock as if he were seeing him for the first time. "I  
thought I knew you. What did I know?"

Spock couldn't answer; something had gone wrong with his  
throat. *Let me escape,* was all he could think. *Let me  
out. Please, please, let me out!*

Kirk started to say something further, but it came out as a  
small, torn, inarticulate sound. He turned abruptly,  
grabbed a stylus off his desk and scrawled his initials on  
the transfer paper. Then he picked up the paper and shoved  
it blindly toward Spock. "Here," he said. "Go!"

Too stunned to think, Spock took the paper and turned toward  
the door. His legs moved as if they were frozen. Behind  
him he heard footsteps hurrying past the divider screen, the  
faint creak of weight on a bed, and again that quiet sound  
of something tearing.

Then the door whooshed shut behind him, and he was out in  
the corridor with the signed transfer paper in his hand and  
no idea what to do next. *Transfer . . . procedure . . .*  
he thought sluggishly. *Signature. Medical examination . .  
. Sickbay . . . No, not McCoy!* The idea of facing McCoy  
in this condition made him shudder. The doctor would demand  
an explanation, pry until he found something, and his  
"intuition" would do the rest. But a pre-transfer  
examination had to be performed by the Chief Medical  
Officer, and there was no legal way around it. Then again,  
this was second watch; McCoy would be out at dinner. *I can  
leave the paper,* Spock considered, *Come back later when  
I've had time to regain enough control . . . and construct  
an acceptable explanation . . .* That decided, he pulled a  
semblance of control around him like a tattered cloak,  
marched into the turbo lift, and rode down to Sickbay.

* * * *

There was nobody in the corridor, nobody in the examination  
room, no sound but the usual soft running-noises of  
machinery. Surely almost everyone was out to dinner. There  
would be a duty nurse in one of the wards, Spock considered,  
but that shouldn't cause any problems. He thought of  
leaving the paper in the examination room, then wondered how  
many people might chance across it before the doctor saw it,  
and decided to leave it on the desk in McCoy's office. Like  
a burglar in reverse, he tiptoed through the office door.

And there sat McCoy, reading some tapes and munching a  
sandwich.

Spock jumped, fumbled the paper, almost dropped it,  
recovered, tried to look perfectly normal, and realized with  
an inward groan of dismay that those keen blue eyes had  
missed nothing.

"Well, Spock," said McCoy, shoving the remains of his  
sandwich aside, "What brings you here? Got a problem?"

Spock bit down a wild impulse to laugh. He held out the  
paper at arm's length. "Medical examination required," he  
intoned.

McCoy raised one expressive eyebrow, took the paper and read  
it over. He seemed to take an inordinate amount of time  
studying the initials at the bottom. Then he looked up,  
wearing an expression that Spock had never seen before and  
couldn't analyze. The unreadable stare stretched on for  
long silent minutes, adding to Spock's acute discomfort.

"You son of a bitch." McCoy's voice was as cold as polar  
ice. "You really are going to do it, aren't you?"

Spock was too stunned to do anything but blink.

"I thought you'd learned something in all this time; I hoped  
you'd finally grown up, but oh no--you won't learn what you  
don't want to learn. If the facts don't fit your theories,  
ignore them! And you call yourself logical? The hell you  
are!"

"I--I see no reason to stand here and be pointlessly  
insulted--"

"Bullshit! You deserve every dirty word in the galaxy for  
this! Try 'deserter' for example: Jim's in trouble and needs  
your help, but because there's a threat of emotional  
involvement--oh dirty! Dirty! Emotional involvement--you  
duck behind a transfer request and run away. Oh, I'm sure  
you can give me a lot of neat logical-sounding excuses, but  
changing the name doesn't change the game. You're still  
running out on him!"

*How does he-- He must have talked to Jim. He didn't see--*  
"You do not begin to understand the situation. It is  
imperative--"

"The hell I don't understand! Look. See for yourself."  
McCoy held up the paper and pointed to the scribbled  
initials at the end. "Did you ever see him write like that  
before? Look at that frantic scrawl! A child could see  
what's wrong! Why can't you?"

"The Captain . . . is ill."

"So that's your medical opinion, is it?" McCoy actually  
sneered. "Oh, sure! To you, any emotion is a mental  
disease!"

Spock shuddered. "Yes," he admitted, feeling his battered  
control buckling under this onslaught. "Yes, and  
dangerously contagious."

"Right." McCoy's sudden grin was oddly like a snarl.  
"That's what you've always been afraid of. Well, tough  
shit! Consider it an occupational hazard, Doctor Quack.  
The fact remains that the only cure for lovesickness is to  
be loved in return, so you turn right around and go back to  
Jim and give him what you damn well know he needs!"

"Are you insane too?" Spock snapped. "Do you have any idea  
what will happen if I do that?"

"I can make a few guesses."

"Do you want me to rape him again?" *What am I saying?!?*

"It wasn't rape the first time," McCoy answered levelly.

Spock turned as pale as McCoy had ever seen him. For a  
moment he looked as if he were going to faint. "How . . .  
would you . . . know?" he asked, very quietly.

McCoy didn't bat an eye. "I wasn't asleep," he said.

"No . . .," Spock whispered, staring at him in unmitigated  
horror. "You . . . saw? You heard?"

"Everything, from start to finish," McCoy confirmed. "I  
didn't stop you for fear of hurting you badly. I kept quiet  
afterwards to spare Jim's feelings--and yours. But by god I  
won't spare your arrogance or your damned pious cruelty!  
You seduced him, Spock--one of the neatest seductions I've  
ever seen--and if you run away from him now, you'll hurt him  
more than you can understand; you'll leave him with nothing.  
You can't do that to him, damn you! Go back and finish what  
you've started!"

"No," Spock insisted, staring down at the floor as if to be  
certain that it was still there. Before his inner eye  
drifted a vision of a starship battered by phaser fire, its  
shields weakening, giving way . . . "I cannot . . . I am a  
Vulcan!"

"Not anymore, you're not!"

"What?" Spock snapped his head up and stared at McCoy, eyes  
flaring wide. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you shot your Vulcanness to hell and gone, four  
days ago. Haven't I been telling you for years that your  
Human side would get loose someday? Well it has, and you  
can't lock it up again. You're stuck with it, Spock.  
You're going to have to deal with it, now and forever, and  
you'd better start fast."

"No!" Spock tensed all over, as if bracing himself against  
a gale. Dark, ugly rage was seething past his shredded  
control, rage at this soft little Human tormentor who dared  
to know so much. His hands itched to reach out, wrap around  
that dangerous throat and squeeze until the light in those  
dreadful blue eyes went out. He knew exactly how it would  
feel . . . hadn't he tried it once before? The pulse in  
those vulnerable arteries beating slow but heavy, the  
flexible windpipe yielding, the bright blue eyes so terribly  
keen and showing no fear at all but only a last terrible  
insight . . . *"What are you feeling, Spock? . . . Have  
you ever felt these things before?"* "No! I will master  
this. I am Vulcan. I am Vulcan!"

"Hah! And you've called *me* a witch doctor!" McCoy almost  
laughed. "You wave that phrase about like a poor  
superstitious savage waving a magic amulet to ward off  
demons. It won't work, Spock. You can't exorcise your  
Humanity! It's with you for life, and you may as well stop  
calling it a demon."

*But it is! For me it is, you fool!* "I . . . am . . .  
Vulcan . . ." *And I am holding onto the last of my  
sanity!*

"And you're also a blind, bigoted poser," snarled McCoy.  
"Oh yes; Vulcan first, last, and always--Vulcan right or  
wrong--in every detail, and never think of adopting so much  
as an idea from anybody else. Vulcan Uber Alles! Nothing  
else is worth considering! Jim was willing to give up his  
impossible pose for you, but you won't do that for him, will  
you? No, you'd rather go crawling back to Vulcan and spend  
the rest of your life trying to prove that you're as good as  
the purebloods!"

Spock could only gasp in pain as that shaft hit home.

"So second best tries harder, eh, Spock? You'll be Mr.  
Super-Vulcan if it kills you--and Jim, and everything else.  
I believe you'd destroy this ship and everyone aboard her if  
that would prove to the rest of Vulcan that there's  
absolutely nothing Human about you! Is that 'rejoicing in  
diversity,' you complete hypocrite?"

"Stop!" Spock shouted. "Be quiet!"

"Yes, I'll be quiet." McCoy's voice dropped to a searing  
whisper. "But if a Human's curse can stick on a Vulcan,  
then god damn you for a coward, Spock; you're throwing away  
something infinitely precious for the safety of a worthless  
pose."

*Coward! Coward! Everyone can see it!* Spock turned and  
bolted out the door, out of Sickbay, down the corridor and  
away.

McCoy stared after him for a long moment, then glanced down  
at the forgotten transfer form. "You bastard," he  
whispered. "You vicious, unbending bastard . . ." Then he  
dropped his face into his hands.

* * * *

Spock didn't stop panting until he was back in his own  
cabin, and even then the dizziness and sickness didn't  
subside until he scrambled into the sleeping area and  
slumped down in front of the firepot. His mind still  
whirled, and it was exceptionally difficult to form chains  
of thought. *Can't . . . think.* He shuddered  
uncontrollably. *Control . . . shattered . . . and this  
time I'm fully conscious!* He shivered again, and wondered  
idly why the room was so chilly. A glance at the  
thermometer showed him that the physical temperature of the  
room was the same as always. None the less, the walls  
exuded a feeling of cold, the ornamental daggers glittered  
like ice, and even the firepot seemed to sullenly withhold  
its heat.

"The hallucinations . . . return . . ." Spock murmured, too  
numb to be alarmed. A fragment of Human poetry floated  
through his mind.

*"from what I know of Hate  
I'd say that, for destruction, ice  
Is also great,  
And would suffice."*

 

Surprisingly, that made excellent sense. Yes, it was  
perfectly logical that his own cabin should hate him; he was  
an intruder now, an alien, unwelcome—for this place was  
Vulcan, and he wasn't Vulcan anymore. *Too late to go home  
. . .* He sighed with resignation. *I'm hopelessly insane  
already.*

He got up and walked aimlessly around the cabin, wondering  
just where in the galaxy he could go. Certainly he couldn't  
stay in here. But where did a half-breed belong? *Not  
Sickbay! Not with that blue-eyed hawk waiting to pounce on  
me! Not back there, no.* He considered going down to the  
swimming pool, walking into the deep end and sitting there  
until he drowned--but it was a long walk, and in his present  
irrational condition he might very well get lost. Perhaps  
he should go find another lunatic and ask for advice. That  
made as much sense as anything. Besides, he felt a need for  
company. *"Misery loves company." In Union There Is  
Strength. We madmen have to stick together . . .* He even  
knew where he could find another madman, one who would talk  
to him, tell him where he could go . . . *He'll tell me  
Where To Get Off . . . I don't care. I want to see him  
again. Besides, I owe him an explanation at least. "I'm  
sorry, Jim, I don't want to hurt you, but I have to leave  
because I'm totally insane and a Public Health Hazard . . ."  
Maybe he'll break my neck. That would solve the problem  
neatly . . ..*

He got up and trudged to the door and went out and down the  
corridor without looking back. He still couldn't think, but  
his feet knew the way.

* * * *

The door to Kirk's cabin refused to open. Annoyed, Spock  
gave it a push. Something gave a toothy snap, and the door  
slid back a little less than an inch. *Broken,* he decided,  
wedging his fingers into the gap and pushing the reluctant  
door open the rest of the way. It didn't shut behind him,  
either. *Not polite to leave doors ajar like that,* he  
thought, pulling it closed again. It occurred to him in  
passing that perhaps he should have pressed the door buzzer  
first. Well, too late now.

The office was empty and the lights were low. Spock  
wondered vaguely where Kirk could have gone, and when he'd  
return. *I'll wait,* he decided, looking about for a chair.  
The only one he could see was behind the desk, and he didn't  
want to go near that desk just now. There would probably be  
a chair in the living area. He crossed the office and  
stepped behind the screen--and then stopped short.

The bed was occupied. Kirk lay there, breathing in the slow  
rhythms of sleep, his forearm pressed against his eyes.  
There were faint tracks of wetness on his face. *He must  
have cried himself to sleep,* Spock realized. *How long?  
Minutes? Hours? And I have never, ever known him to cry  
before . . .* He knew that tears were a symptom of great  
internal pain. How much pain it was, he couldn't begin to  
guess--but it was terrible to think of Kirk suffering like  
that. Spock tiptoed over to the bed and sat down very  
carefully beside the sleeping man, wondering what he could  
do to stop that unbearable hurt. *Please don't suffer,* he  
begged silently. *Your pain hurts me. I . . . care about  
what you feel . . . I do care about you . . . I do . . .*  
The understanding came to him that this was exactly what  
Kirk had wanted, so terribly, to know. *Yes, Jim . . . yes  
. . .* Now Spock knew what was needed; now he could do  
something. He gripped Kirk's shoulder and shook him gently.

"Jim, wake up," he whispered. "Please listen to me."

Under his hand Kirk flinched and stirred, pulled his arm  
away from his face and looked up. His eyes were red and  
swollen. "What do you want?" he mumbled. "Come back to  
kick me again?"

"No." Spock understood that Kirk wasn't referring to any  
physical attack. "I came back to tell you . . . to tell you  
. . . Jim, it isn't true. It's not true, what you said. I-  
-I admit to being a coward, but not a liar. Those things I  
. . . told you, four days ago . . . I meant them. That was  
the truth."

Kirk stared dully up at him, but didn't say anything.

"It was true then, and it is true now," Spock insisted,  
desperately needing to make Kirk understand. "I do . . .  
have that feeling for you . . .. More precisely, it has me.  
I cannot get rid of it! It has driven me insane, and I am  
no longer Vulcan, and I am ashamed and lost and--" He  
stopped, panting, and wrestled his voice back under control.  
"Jim, I don't know what to do."

Kirk continued to look up at him, big expressive hazel eyes  
filled with yearning, with a great aching to believe, at war  
with suspicion and fear and a terrible hurt. "Prove it," he  
whispered.

"Proof . . .?" Spock murmured, bemused at the idea.  
"Proof?" *Isn't it obvious? Can't you see that I am not  
myself? Can't you see this storm in my mind? . . . in the  
mind . . . perhaps I can show you . . . won't harm you . . .  
you're already as mad as I am . . .* He held up one hand,  
fingers spread wide, close to Kirk's head but not touching,  
simply offering the evidence.

Kirk thought for a moment, considered the dangers, shrugged  
them off, then took a deep breath and pressed that proffered  
hand against his head.

Spock closed his eyes and let himself remember that morning,  
that disastrous experiment on the bridge, the constant  
awareness of Kirk's presence from the first moment that had  
drawn steadily from distraction to obsession, the inability  
to work or even think clearly, the unbidden and intrusive  
memories, the lascivious visions drifting unchecked through  
his mind, the bridge machinery whispering salacious poetry .  
. . *When was the last time you heard the console reciting  
the "Song of Songs?" Hallucinations, delusions, total loss  
of control . . . Oh Jim, can't you see that I'm insane?*

In reply, astonishingly, Kirk laughed. *Oh yes, a fine  
madness! Ah, Spock . . .* He took hold of Spock's  
blistered thumb and kissed it.

"Please! Please!" Spock cried, trying weakly to pull away  
from that enticing touch. "Can't you understand? I'm a  
dangerous lunatic! If I stay here I'll-- The dreams! The  
dreams continue! I can't stop! I'll do that again!  
Again!"

Kirk reached up and pulled the Vulcan down into his arms.  
"Spock," he whispered gently into one quivering ear, "don't  
you realize that I've been dreaming too?"

"Jim . . ." Spock groaned as he felt that sweet brightness  
close over him like deep water. "Oh, I give up!"

Totally lost, resigned to it, Spock hid his face against  
Kirk's neck and wriggled deeper into the grip of his wide  
warm arms, throwing himself headlong into the core of his  
dream country. It was as good as he'd remembered, and now  
not vague with sleep or semi-consciousness. It was like  
sinking into a sea of soft light. He no longer cared it was  
madness, horror, utterly forbidden. He forgot about Vulcan,  
fell away from all thought, let the exquisite feeling flood  
his senses and fill up his mind. He could hear himself  
gasping as if he'd been running for ten kilometers straight.

"Hush," Kirk sighed, sliding his hands up and down that  
well-remembered back, basking in the incredible feeling of  
this all-accepting contact, the soft warmth and hard  
solidity of that long body pressed close to him, so very  
close. The frozen tangle of self-doubt and fear and  
confusion and pain had melted completely; it was running out  
of him like water, like a stream in springtime, and the  
relief alone was enough to flatten him. It seemed that he  
could lie here forever, doing no more than this touching,  
holding, lying close to his friend. *Lover,* he corrected  
himself. *More than friend now, and there will be more than  
this. Accept it.* "Yes . . . yes."

In silence, save for the paired whispers of breathing and  
the hushed sounds of hands on cloth, the moments passed and  
passed. They lay still, utterly relaxed, quietly soaking up  
the gentle delight of feeling, floating in a bright haze on  
the edge of sleep. There was no motion but the slight, slow  
stirring as Spock drowsily rubbed his cheek, catlike,  
against Kirk's neck, and the steady, rhythmic sliding of  
Kirk's hands on the Vulcan's back. They knew, without  
question or concern, that eventually the warmth would rise  
to heat, the soft brightness become shot through with fierce  
light, but there was no need to hurry toward it; there was  
time enough to let it come when it would. *"World enough,  
and time . . ."* Kirk thought contentedly, lulled by the  
feel of the slowly breathing body wrapped safe in his  
sliding arms.

Under that steady motion of hands, Spock stretched and  
quivered and slowly began to purr. The nameless bright  
sensations owned him utterly, and all he wanted was to flow  
with them. The universe had narrowed down to this fluid  
heat within and the solid warmth without, featured with  
subtle variations of detail. So marvelous, the difference  
between those hard fingers combing his cloth-sheathed back,  
and the smooth cheek rubbing softly against his own.  
Delightful, the smoky and faintly salty smell, the faint  
moisture of his skin--the heritage of his water-rich world .  
. .

Kirk shifted slightly and kissed him, first on one closed  
eye, then on the other, then down the side of his face, and  
at last on his mouth. For a moment Spock thought he might  
faint under the impact of that gentle pressure; he could  
feel incredible sensory echoes of it running the whole  
length of his body and reverberating strangely in his groin.  
He no longer wondered why Humans gave such significance to  
the odd gesture; now he understood. *Oh! Oh, my bones are  
melting!* He pressed his hands tight against Kirk's head  
and held him fast, desperate lest the contact be broken.  
Under his chest he felt the vibration of silent laughter.  
*So eager!* He heard Kirk's thought respond. *This frantic  
from a kiss? What will you do if I . . .* The knowing  
hands burrowed under his shirt and slid smoothly against his  
bare skin. He broke contact, gasping in shock as his body  
arched, curling helplessly around that skimming touch.

Kirk laughed again, in amazement and delight. Innocent  
clumsiness he could have expected, but not this frantic,  
vulnerable sensitivity. Testing, he slipped one hand down  
and pulled his fingers lightly across Spock's ribs,  
fascinated to feel him sob and shudder and curl to the side.  
The same caress repeated with the other hand caused the same  
response in mirror image. *I could steer him like a ship,*  
Kirk marveled. *A touch can move him . . ..* The shirt  
impeded his hands. Happily reckless, he petted the Vulcan  
to arching up off his chest, then clutched the blue shirt  
and pulled it up, over his head, and down his arms. Spock  
paused to blink puzzled eyes at him. Kirk smiled and  
explained wordlessly, sliding his hands freely over the  
bared flesh. Spock understood. The purr rekindled in his  
throat as he slipped down beside Kirk and began fumbling  
impatiently with the catches of his shirt.

The boots followed, adding to the disordered pile on the  
floor. Kirk reached for Spock's belt, then paused and  
looked at him, tacitly asking permission to proceed. Spock  
shivered, remembering an earlier broken belt, then nodded  
once and closed his eyes. Kirk tugged away the long pants  
and briefs, and the last neglected sock, and waited to see  
if the Vulcan would reciprocate, but Spock only lay still,  
passive, waiting.

Kirk stripped off the last of his own clothing and stretched  
out beside him, carefully settling his forehead against  
Spock's temple and resting one hand lightly on his soft-  
furred chest. Spock shivered again, but differently. *You  
cold?* Kirk wondered, wishing the thermostat were within  
reach. *No. Frightened.* The reply came clearly. *I  
might hurt you . . .* The thought was shot full of  
startling images; Kirk saw/felt himself, strangely angled  
through Spock's memory, groaning and struggling in red-shot  
darkness. He gaped at the picture, then laughed aloud.  
*Spock, that wasn't pain! Didn't you-- Oh, the head  
injury! You couldn't mind-link, didn't know . . .* Through  
his stead assurance he felt Spock's apprehension fade to  
bewilderment and a faint trace of worry. *I'll show you,* he  
promised, gliding his fingers through the smooth dark fur  
that dusted the Vulcan's chest and belly. Spock sighed and  
relaxed, but didn't move. Reassurance or no, he was  
desperately afraid of hurting Kirk, and was determined not  
to make any moves--if he could help it--until he was sure of  
the consequences. *Besides,* he added with a touch of  
embarrassment, *you seem to have more experience in these  
matters than I do . . .*

Kirk's last shadow of self-doubt melted away in a burst of  
delighted laughter. *You're almost a virgin,* he chuckled.  
*And I thought I'd be . . . * No, that worry was gone; he  
was no longer any kind of victim. The next round was  
entirely his. He reared up on one elbow, smiled warmly at  
those gentle brown eyes, then bent over and kissed him very  
slowly and thoroughly. Spock was groaning softly and  
gripping his shoulders before he was done, and it took a  
little effort to pull away. In compensation he nuzzled  
across the Vulcan's cheek and then darted his tongue around  
the inner rim of one pointed ear. Spock gasped in surprise  
and pleasure, and dug his hands into the bedclothes. Kirk  
smiled again, watching the reaction. Wonderful, this  
marvelous innocence and sensitivity. The long, elegant body  
was like a finely tuned instrument awaiting the player's  
touch, like a fresh new world to explore . . . Hadn't Spock  
said those very words to him, about him, only four days ago?  
*Yes, I'll search you out,* he vowed, *discover hidden  
wonders in you . . .* His hands moved slowly down the  
Vulcan's lean and shivering body, noting carefully what  
touches made him groan and quiver, or stretch and purr, or  
arch helplessly this way or that. It was awesome to think  
how much Spock trusted him to let him learn such secrets;  
and then it occurred to him that this could be an experience  
of discovery for the Vulcan, too. Had he never been touched  
like this before? Had no one ever shown him what he could  
feel? *Oh, I'll show you,* Kirk expanded his promise.  
*I'll show you what pleasure can be . . .*

At length his hands brushed through the dark-furred pubic  
thicket and came to rest over the enclosed genitals.  
Intrigued, he looked closer at the alien arrangement—the  
three protective petals folded tight as a rosebud, but  
pulsing faintly as he touched them. Spock moaned softly at  
the repeated touch, his hands alternately opening and  
closing on the bedcover, his body slowly arching upward.  
His eyes closed tight, squeezing out tears. Kirk continued  
to stroke and watch, entranced, as the petals slowly  
engorged with blood, flushed pale green, swelled, and began  
to part.

"It's like a flower," he whispered, awed. "A flower opening  
under my hand . . ."

"You . . . do not . . . find it . . . distasteful?" Spock  
panted.

"Oh, no, no . . ." Kirk assured him. "It's fascinating!  
Green . . "

*Had you expected rainbows?* Spock wondered dizzily, his  
shoulders digging into the bedding. It had become  
impossible to lie still; that steady teasing in his groin  
had wakened a sweet, insistent tickling that crept through  
his nerves like threads of fire. He had to move, do  
something, respond in some way. In desperation he turned on  
one elbow and reached blindly for Kirk, needing to touch  
him. His hand closed on Kirk's shoulder and halted there,  
intrigued by the velvety skin and the subtle play of the  
oddly attached muscles. Oddly soothed by the exotic  
textures, he let his hand explore further: sideways along  
the sharp ledge of the collarbone, lightly into the little  
hollow where the bone ends met the base of the throat,  
slowly across the broad high plain of the breast muscles  
with their flat gold rosettes—fascinating to see those  
supposedly vestigial structures tightening readily under the  
touch of his fingers . . . Kirk paused where he was, his  
hand brushing the half-opened flower in automatic circles,  
letting Spock take the lead, letting him explore as he  
wanted. His breathing grew deeper. Unnoticed, his toes  
twitched. Encouraged, Spock investigated further. He felt  
the broad arches of buried ribs, the warm ridges of the  
belly muscles, the marvelous sensitivity where the skin lay  
thin over pulsing veins, the hidden surprise of a sharp  
hipbone, the corded strength of long thigh muscles, the  
contrasting tender smoothness of the inner thighs . . .  
Kirk lay still, as if paralyzed by the explorative touch.  
His breathing shifted to long harsh gasps. "There," he  
whispered. "Gently . . . ah, there . . ."

"Careful . . . yes . . ." Spock assured him, cautiously  
running his hand up the sensitive skin, fascinated by the  
exposed genitalia of the Human. He had never really studied  
a naked man before, and he found the arrangement of the  
organs truly amazing. So smooth, that bare single shaft--  
curiously dry, and so subtly featured--the thick underlying  
vein and the flared head becoming noticeable only as the  
remarkable transformation took place, the soft flesh  
mysteriously tightening and stretching into a pale column as  
hard as polished wood, the flushed tip as tender as fine  
velvet . . . Kirk groaned and stretched under that  
touching, and Spock wondered if he should link with him  
again and discover exactly what the sensations were--but no,  
that might require some control, and Spock knew he didn't  
have that now.

"Good . . . oh, that's good . . ." Kirk panted. "Careful .  
. . or I'll finish too soon . . . mmmmm . . ."

*Too soon?* Spock wondered. Knowing no answer to that, he  
trailed his fingers away from the taut flesh to the other  
organ, that mysterious pendant structure just below. He  
probed delicately, feeling out the two ovoids hidden under  
the fine skin, and Kirk twitched and gasped at every shift  
of his fingers.

"Careful . . . gently, Spock . . . don't squeeze hard, or I  
won't be any good to you . . ."

"These are . . . testes?" Comprehension dawned. "Here?!  
So exposed?"

"Yes . . . vulnerable," Kirk admitted. "That's why we're so  
. . . anxious . . . about them. But where . . . where are  
yours?"

Spock blushed. Shyly, he took Kirk's free hand and guided  
it carefully to the small of his back, placing the fingers  
two inches apart, on either side of the spine.

"There?" Kirk marveled. "So that's why . . . last time . .  
. when I hugged you . . ." Experimentally, he pressed his  
arm against the hidden place. Spock gasped, arched up  
against him, then squirmed downward against the warm  
pressure. Kirk shook his head in amazement, then bent down  
and planted a firm kiss directly in the Vulcan's navel,  
trapping the lean body between his pressing mouth and his  
underlying arm.

Spock cried out wordlessly, his body arching and curling,  
rebounding between the two points of contact. Electrifying  
webs of fire shot from his groin to his waist, filling his  
belly and threading down through his thighs. His hands,  
reaching blindly for some solidity, closed on Kirk's back  
and dug into the rolling muscles. The only idea his  
seething mind could form was amazement at Kirk's obvious  
pleasure in that tight, clawing grasp. Then Kirk's other  
hand slid down his belly, fingers whispering through the  
thick dark pubic fur to resettle over the pulsing, half-  
opened genital flower--and all coherent thought fled away.  
*Defenses against pain . . . useless against pleasure,* he  
laughed.

"There . . . there . . . I'll show you . . ." Kirk repeated,  
stroking steadily at the tender, changing flesh.  
Fascinated, he watched the three petals curl back to reveal  
glistening chartreuse surfaces studded with hypersensitive  
spots of darker green, the two side tendrils gracefully  
uncoiling to stand like oiled serpentine honor guards beside  
the rising, proud, gleaming central shaft. "Like an  
orchid," Kirk whispered, "or a cross between . . . an orchid  
and a great green anthurium . . .. Oh, it's beautiful!  
What are these two things for?" He ran his fingers along  
the wet, quivering tendrils.

Spock cried out helplessly and tossed his head from side to  
side. "Oh . . . oh . . . anchoring—" he gasped. "They grip  
. . . stimulate . . . female. Aaah . . ."

*Not just females,* Kirk thought, sweat breaking out on his  
forehead as he remembered those hot green tendrils probing  
blindly, greedily at this groin, catching his swelling organ  
and lashing it tight against a hot, rough surface. *Yes,  
this . . .* His hand closed around the tall, knurled green  
column. It throbbed heavily in his hand, the beaded surface  
sweating clear fluid against his skin. The little green  
tendrils lashed frantically, caught at his hand, and twined  
like passionate ivy around his fingers. Spock clenched his  
teeth and gave a high, thin moan. His taut body began  
writhing slowly, arms stretched wide, as if he were  
crucified on the bed. Kirk paused, recognizing the motion.

"Am I hurting you?" He smiled, loosening his grip.

"No!" Spock cried. "No! Do not stop! Please--" His eyes  
snapped open as memory connected. "It wasn't . . . not pain  
at all. Jim . . ."

"Right," Kirk laughed. "Now you know."

"Oh yes . . . yes . . ." Spock leaned back and let his eyes  
drift closed. This was right, it was all right now, and if  
this unbelievable pleasure burned out his entire nervous  
system in the next second, that was all right, too. His  
pulse beat soft fire in his veins, filling his whole body  
with a bright network of yearning flame, and he heard his  
voice purring in cadence with the slow surging, and he had  
no control over any of this, and he didn't care.

Kirk shook sweat out of his eyes and slid his closed hand up  
and down the full-stretched impressive shaft, watching the  
beads of moisture form on the hundreds of close-packed  
little green buttons, like oil on emeralds. The tendrils  
clutched at his hand, almost visibly begging for the next  
step in the progression. *But what is it?* Kirk wondered  
fuzzily. He was fiercely roused, and it was hard to think.  
He had to do something, needed it urgently, but he wasn't  
sure how to proceed. That fascinating alien physiology had  
him momentarily baffled. The tendrils tugged insistently at  
his fingers, reminding him of the last time, how they'd done  
it then. Yes, that was worth trying again.

Almost reluctantly he let go of the pulsating organs and  
glided his fingers down the insides of the Vulcan's thighs,  
hoping to make them part. The reaction was totally  
unexpected; Spock gave a strangled cry, seized Kirk by the  
shoulders and pulled him fiercely between his spread thighs  
as if unable to endure an instant with that opened flower  
untouched. Kirk wriggled into position, gasping with  
excitement as that frantic need infected him. He settled  
carefully, matching the organs inch for inch, groaning  
tightly as the tendrils wrapped eagerly around him. Their  
oiled, feathery touch sent stabs of lightning up his spine.  
Stretching out on the Vulcan's heaving body, he began to  
pump himself slowly against the rough-wet surface of the  
tall central shaft. Spock surged under him, breathing in  
great tiger purrs, his hands blindly combing Kirk's back.  
The hard rhythm lifted and carried them like a burning river  
that ran on and on . . ..

*But not . . . finishing . . .* Kirk realized through the  
frantic bright haze. *Not enough . . . touching . . . * He  
was caught, snagged on an insufficiency, too fiercely  
excited for this careful precision. Instinct or long habit  
required more. He needed still more contact, and heavier  
than this; he needed to bury himself to the hilt in this  
vehement flesh, and he had no clear idea how to do it.  
Almost desperately he ran his hands up and down the Vulcan's  
writhing body, searching for some answer. Spock arched up  
against him, yearning and frantic. Kirk's hands  
automatically slid under his buttocks, caught and gripped  
tight. Spock gasped raggedly and went rigid, body curved  
upward like a drawn bow, as if not daring to move lest  
something evade him. Only his hands moved, clawing and  
pulling frantically, silently pleading.

*Could that be it?* Kirk wondered, an idea taking form.  
*Possible? Nerves that much alike?* Stark mechanical  
problems, blunt questions flickered through his mind. His  
fingers searched, probed, while Spock shuddered and sobbed  
against him, holding him tight. *There . . .* A soft  
place, a yielding, recessed, further forward than he'd  
expected and definitely possible, opening beneath the green  
flesh-flower, its course leading directly under it, through  
the roots of the nerves. He explored, testing, making sure.  
Spock dug frenzied fingers into his hips and flinched with  
every touch. Kirk wondered if he were hurting him and  
stopped, trying to think past his own ravening need,  
searching for some solution. Spock answered the unformed  
question for him, slipping one hand up to his head and  
anchoring firmly in his hair. The mind link roared open,  
revealing a bright inferno that shrieked for more fire.  
*Please! Please! Don't stop! Please!* His free hand  
clutched blindly at Kirk's back and hips and thighs. Under  
that lay the startling, distinct impression of just how it  
was to feel those searching fingers.

*Yes . . . yes . . . I will . . .* Kirk promised dizzily,  
shaken by those battering bright waves until he could barely  
see. He pulled himself back, away from the clinging,  
pleading tendrils, and slipped down under the rim of that  
quivering lower petal, feeling through Spock's mind the  
indescribable sensation of his hard belly pressing against  
that open flower. Panting, desperate, inflamed, he probed  
blindly for the yielding place, sought and found. His hands  
closed tight on smooth hard buttocks, gripped and pulled  
wide, and he took a last deep breath and plunged slowly and  
steadily into the burning ring.

*Oh god but he's hot! Hot! Tight . . .*

Then all thought burned out of his mind as he felt how it  
was for Spock, writhing under that slow impaling thrust,  
tender flesh yielding and stretching tight until every nerve  
was laid bare to the blunt, smooth pressure. His body  
transmuted to a skin full of liquid fire, the silent-  
shrieking open orchid/anthurium hard-stroked by smooth-  
skinned, spring-steel rippling flesh, body impaled and  
undulating helplessly on the thick carved-wood column,  
surging and writhing in uncontrollable spasms, voice crying  
hoarsely in short screams like the mating cry of a leopard,  
thighs wrapped frantically around taut thighs, hands  
clutching at bucking hips and pulling . . .. *Deeper . . .  
more . . . yes . . . yes. Yes!* Bodies locked, pumping in  
savage united rhythm. Gasping mouths sought, found each  
other, sealed tight in double penetration. Arms and legs  
wrapped tight as iron bands, unnoticed fingers digging deep.  
Minds dissolved together in a holocaust of red and green  
flames, sensory overload, bursting release, exploding stars—  
all things transformed into a single timeless burning pulse  
. . . pulse . . . pulse . . .

Eons afterward, a slow drifting down toward a gentle  
oblivion.

*. . . oh . . . oh Jim . . . I'm dying . . . 

. . . no, Spock, . . . only sleep . . . hush . . . Sleepy  
fingers softly traced an upswept eyebrow.

. . . this is . . . madness?

. . . no . . . just love . . . 

. . . Love?* Lips pressed drowsily against damp bronze  
hair.

*. . . oh, yes . . .*

On a last vague kiss they fell asleep.

* * * *

McCoy had spent a sleepless night, and got up early in a  
miserable mood. He tugged on a fresh shirt and glowered at  
the paper lying still unsigned on his desk. There was no  
point putting it off. Glumly he punched the intercom and  
buzzed Spock's quarters. There was no answer. Puzzled, he  
called the bridge. Spock wasn't there, either. More calls,  
more mystery: Spock hadn't been seen at dinner, and neither  
had the captain. In fact, nobody had seen either of them  
since the end of their watch the day before--only McCoy  
himself had seen Spock after that. Seriously worried, McCoy  
started to buzz Kirk's quarters, then thought better of it,  
picked up the paper and headed down there for a personal  
visit.

The first thing he saw was that the captain's cabin door was  
broken. It was sprung open maybe an inch and there was a  
small but noticeable dent in it--approximately the size of  
a large Human hand. *Or Vulcan,* thought the doctor, the  
hair lifting on his head. *He could do that . . . what else  
could he have done?!*

As he stood there, frozen with a dozen worries, he became  
aware of two sounds. One: the sonic shower was running, and  
at a moderately high setting. Two: someone was singing in  
the shower, noticeably off key. *That's Jim,* thought  
McCoy, sagging a little in relief. *He never could carry a  
tune . . . But why so happy? And where's Spock?*

Someone bumped into the other side of the door. McCoy  
distinctly heard the soft thump and grunt of surprise. Then  
a hand appeared at the edge of the door, gripped, shoved,  
and the panel reluctantly squeaked open. Sure enough, there  
stood Spock. His shirt was rumpled.

McCoy did nothing but stare at him. Spock raised an eyebrow  
and stared back. Behind them, Kirk sang on--definitely  
"Home, Home on the Range." McCoy listened, and looked, and  
a wide grin slowly spread across his face. *You did it!* he  
wanted to shout. *Hallelujah! You did it!*

"Is there anything you require, Doctor?" Spock asked  
politely, voice as level as always.

"Waal, y'all might tell me how he talked you into staying,"  
McCoy grinned back. "Did he get down on his knees?"

Spock lifted his eyebrow again and replied sweetly: "No,  
Doctor. To be precise, he got up on his elbows."

McCoy choked, gasped, muffled a gale of laughter with  
considerable difficulty, and finally held out the unfinished  
transfer paper. "So what do you want me to do with this?"  
he asked.

For answer, Spock neatly plucked the paper out of his hand,  
tore it into shreds, then tore it several times crosswise.  
He tossed it into the air, turned on his heel and walked  
briskly away down the corridor--leaving McCoy grinning like  
an idiot in a small shower of white confetti.

\--end--

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally published in *Obsc'zine #1* by T'Kuhtian Press, Lori Chapek-Carelton, editor. Anyone who remembers reading the story in its early years and who has information, insights, or reminiscences to offer, please post them.
> 
> This work is being posted as part of the "Foresmutters Project", an anarchic effort to make some of the older zine-published Star Trek fanfiction available online. No work will be posted without the express consent of the author or hir estate.
> 
> The story was originally published as written by Leslie Fish and Joanne Agostino. It is being posted here with the permission of Fish, the principal author.


End file.
